10 Reasons Why Elecbrakes Is The Best Electric Brake Controller

Whether you’re using a trailer to transport building materials, moving horses between venues or hitting the open road in a caravan it’s essential that you have a safe, responsive trailer brake system.

The most popular option for Australian trailer users are electric trailer brakes which require an electric brake controller to operate. We’re confident that Elecbrakes is the best electric brake controller in Australia and this article will outline why.

From its smooth proportional brake response, to its 10 minute ‘Plug & Play’ electric brake controller installation, to its revolutionary multi-tow vehicle accessibility, through to the generous cost savings generated over the life time of your trailer, Elecbrakes offers unbeatable safety, performance and flexibility.

This article will explain the following benefits of Elecbrakes:

1. Trailer mounted brake controller for multi tow vehicle flexibility
2. Easy 10 minute electric brake controller installation
3. Keep saving money over the lifetime of your trailer
4. Customisable preset programs for easy user calibration
5. Smartphone app for easy program modification and device monitoring
6. Wireless in-car remote
7. Powered entirely from standard trailer wiring
8. Best electric over hydraulic brake controller
9. Created for Australian conditions with rugged, durable design
10. Owned, designed and manufactured in Australia

1. Trailer mounted brake controller for multi tow vehicle flexibility

Unlike traditional electric brake controllers, Elecbrakes is not hard-wired into the tow vehicle. Instead it is a completely trailer mounted brake controller solution. This is a revolution in towing which means that you don’t need to install an electric brake controller on every tow vehicle that uses the trailer. You just need to install the device once on the trailer and then any capably tow vehicle can connect to the device with a wireless in-car remote and be on the road in minutes.

This means that many families and hire companies find Elecbrakes to be the best brake controller for travel trailers, plant trailers, horse floats and other industrial trailers. They can be easily shared or rented without expensive and time consuming hard-wired electric brake controller installations.

2. Easy 10 minute electric brake controller installation

Elecbrakes comes in a ‘Plug and Play’ version which has identical functionality to our standard trailer-wired device. The difference is that the ‘Plug and Play’ model requires no wiring into the trailer at all and can simply be plugged into the tow vehicle’s trailer connection. It comes with waterproof connecters, with pre-wired adaptors, taking away any requirement for the user to splice Elecbrakes into the trailer existing circuits.

The ‘Plug and Play’ model comes with a custom adapter configuration which takes into account the user’s specific tow vehicle socket, whether that be a flat 7, 12 socket or 7 pin. The device is mounted onto the draw bar of the trailer, and then is simply plugged in to the tow vehicle socket and the trailer cable. It’s ready to pair with the in-car remote in as little as 10 minutes from opening the Elecbrakes box to hitting the open road. You can read a more detailed step by step demonstration here of our 10 minute Electric brake controller installation with Elecbrakes.

3. Keep saving money over the lifetime of your trailer

For Elecbrakes users – including owners of trade trailers, horse floats and trailer fleet businesses – the flexibility on offer isn’t only convenient, it’s a significant cost saving. If these customers were to choose an outdated in-car hard-wired solution, every tow vehicle would need it’s own controller as well as the expense of an auto electrician for installation which could cost upwards of $500 per vehicle.

Instead, Elecbrakes customers only invest in one unit per trailer which can then be used by an unlimited number of tow vehicles without any modifications or cost. Even for individual trailer users, the reality is that you will likely have an average of three tow vehicles over the lifetime of your trailer. An investment in Elecbrakes means you pay once, not three times. To read detailed examples of the cost savings offered by an Elecbrakes electric brake controller see our article that answers the question Are You Paying Too Much To Tow Your Trailer?

4. Customisable preset programs for easy user calibration

Trailer towing really isn’t a one-size-fits-all operation. A horse float owner is going to have different specific needs than a holiday camper trailer user. It’s for this reason that Elecbrakes provides five customisable preset programs which can be adjusted easily by the user and then stored on the device for quick future use by anyone towing that trailer.

Examples of the different situations that may require adjusted brake responses could be a towing an empty horse float versus towing a horse float with three animals loaded in. Likewise, you may find an adjusted brake response is required when switching between reversing an empty boat trailer into a parking space versus driving a fully loaded boat trailer up a wet ramp.

The programs are stored in the device itself, not in the remote or smartphone app. This means that anyone who wants to tow the Elecbrakes enhanced trailer can simply download the app for free, connect wirelessly to the device and the finely tuned user programs will be there waiting for them, ready to use.

5. Smartphone app for easy program modification and device monitoring

At the heart of Elecbrakes is our smartphone app which provides all the functionality of our wireless in-car remote as well as an intuitive setup process to connect the brake controller and a host of other useful features.

The app allows the Elecbrakes user to configure the five preset programs for use in a range of conditions as well as manually altering the brake response on the go. The app also offers a monitoring hub providing live data on the status of the brake controller.

Available for free download on both apple and android phones, the app provides users with detailed device information. This includes voltage readings from the car’s input circuits and voltage output to the controller as well as usage indicators for brake light and accelerometer readings.

These comprehensive device status signals make electric brake controller installation a breeze because you can always tell at a glance when your device is active and how it’s performing.

6. Wireless in-car remote

The in-car remote allows the Elecbrakes user to conveniently alter the brake response on their wireless electric brake controller at the push of a button. As well as fine-tuning the brake response and allowing compliance with ADR38/05, the Elecbrakes in-car remote can be used to select user defined programs and activate trailer brakes independent of the tow vehicle using a manual override button.

The manual override button on the remote is pressure sensitive allowing you to apply the trailer brake to a varying degree based on the strength of your push on the button. This allows precise and intuitive control of the manual override system which is the most effective way to correct trailer sway when driving.

The in-car remote replaces the hard- wired dash controller in old-fashioned brake controllers, providing an innovative and time saving brake control system. This wireless functionality allows Elecbrakes users to get on the road in as little as 10 minutes with no tow-vehicle modification.

7. Powered entirely from standard trailer wiring

One of Elecbrakes’ key features is the fact that it’s only mounted to the trailer. This provides the trailer user with the freedom of swapping out their ride for any appropriate tow vehicle, without costly modifications. But it also means that without wiring in a separate cable to the car battery all the power that is used to activate the trailer brakes has to be drawn from the existing trailer circuits.

Thanks to the smart software engineering that powers every Elecbrakes system we have achieved a revolutionary efficiency in the way our electric brake controller is powered. This means that Elecbrakes is able to provide sufficient amperage to the brake magnets in an electric brake system using only standard trailer wiring, without the need for hard wiring into the tow vehicle.

For a detailed explanation of how we’ve achieved this, see the article Can standard trailer wiring power electric brakes?

8. Best electric over hydraulic brake controller

Just like regular trailers, boat trailers with a GTM above 2,000kg require a trailer brake system. The most effective marine friendly brake system available is an electric over hydraulic setup. The reason for this hybrid arrangement is that a complete electric brake system would not be viable in the marine environment due to water ingress.

Electric over hydraulic brake systems requires a control signal from an electric brake controller. Elecbrakes provides the best functionality in this area on the market and allows fine tuning of the brake controller operation by providing programmable brake response programs. These can be changed for a variety of conditions including transporting an empty trailer or reversing a fully loaded trailer down a launching ramp.

9. Rugged, durable design created for Australian conditions

Elecbrakes has been specially designed to withstand all the extremes of Australia’s wild weather variations. This means that you can be assured your electric brake controller kit will continue working perfectly in rain, hail or shine. With urethane resin encased electronics creating a waterproof and shock proof device, you can rest easy that you’re picking the most durable and best electric brake controller available.

10. Owned, designed and manufactured in Australia

We’re proud to be part of the great Aussie towing tradition. We’re passionate about giving back to the community by designing, manufacturing and keeping ownership of Elecbrakes here in Australia. Every time someone buys an electric brake controller from Elecbrakes, they’re not only getting the best electric brake controller in Australia, they’re investing in a company that is 100% Aussie.

What makes Elecbrakes the best electric brake controller in Australia? Our customers would all give you a different answer to that question. For some it’s the smooth proportional braking. For others it’s the 10 minute ‘Plug and Play’ installation. For others it’s the multi tow vehicle flexibility offered by our unique trailer mounted solution. For most it’s a combination of all these great features. To find out for yourself how easy it can be to tow a different way, join the towing revolution today.

Get Elecbrakes.